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Super 8 Anamorphic Lens Sankor 16F


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Does any of you have an anamorphic sankor 16f lens? In case you believe that using this lens with a Canon 518 super8 there would be too much vignetting or it would you be able to get a good result? The Canon lens has a focal length of 9.5 - 47.5mm and an outer diameter of 50mm

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Cut-off point (the widest angle you can zoom the lens out to before vignetting) is typically around 20mm depending on what adapters you are using, or if using a lollipop type arrangement which holds the lens in front of the camera lens, and that is affixed to the camera's tripod socket. Since the SANKOR 16-F lens is a 2x anamorphic compression lens, if filming at 20mm focal length on your CANON 518 Super 8, the actual horizontal focal length equivalent will be half that, thus 10mm. Some anamorphic lenses extend upon focusing toward infinity increasing the usable focal length to avoid vignetting, others shorten. The SANKOR design is of the type that lengthens, but that's okay, with care you can still get great images. While it may seem crazy to put so much glass in the path of the imaging rays, it's also possible to add a wide angle lens to the front of the anamorphic to get a wider field of view. You really need to conduct some experiments for yourself to see what works best for you.

 

Most available anamorphic lenses that were manufactured in the film era prior to digital were intended for projection; those are the most common to find. However, that doesn't mean they can't be used to film with. With care in focusing you can get great results that are sharp. I've used the SANKOR with a few fixed lens Super 8mm and Regular 8mm cameras and have gotten excellent results. With the fixed lens Super 8mm camera, that 15mm focal length is reduced to 7.5mm on the horizontal axis. I've also been able to use it on a CHINON Pocket 8 and some others which have fixed focal lengths in the 10mm to 12mm range, thus 5mm and 6mm on the horizontal wide axis respectively. Just exercise care in using an anamorphic lens and make sure the front oval of the lens is vertical, and in the viewfinder that vertical lines are not leaning left or right, indicative of the lens not being aligned. There are even anamorphic lens adapters available from a couple vendors on eBay from time to time at very reasonable prices. If using these type of lens to filter thread mounts, be mindful of all that weight on your prime/zoom lens unit. You might want to build your own wooden support from plywood to fit under the camera, and have a cradle for the lens (lined with soft felt). There are many options of course.

 

For just some simple test you can even just hold the lens against your camera lens and see what works. I prefer to have an empty filter on the camera lens lined with some vinyl electrical tape to act as an small protection rather than flush against the camera lens where it could possible do some damage or scratching to the filter threads or trim plate etc. What's great is that this same lens then later becomes your projection lens, or to be placed in front of your pickup camera lens to de-squeeze the image, unless doing it digitally in post using software.

Hope this helps.

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